Looking Good!!
 

Well if I'm not mistaken that sure looks like all open water 50 yds in front of my dock all the way to Lockes Island!...

Patiently waiting!

Dan

Paugus Bay looking south. If you look at the Paugus Bay web cam it shows the large area of ice that is quickly breaking apart. Most of the shorelines are wide open as are the coves. Could be ice free this weekend!

Woohooo!!!!

Lincoln Park, Smith Cove
 

It is mostly open from Lincoln Park out to Welch. There is still ice to the north as well as between Welch and 40 Islands. Also a lot of ice south of Welch and maybe east of Welch. Tomorrow's wind forecast of east changing to NE may bring some ice back in.

Smith Cove is open enough to get out from Fay's right now but that could change with a south east air flow.

I don't notice a strong trend, however there was a major cold snap during the mid 1800s. I believe this was due to volcanic activity, although I'd have to do more research.

The graph shows ice outs, and a 10 year moving average. It's interesting.

ON The Fence
 

Hey Paugus Bay Firefighter,
This is Dan and that Overlook Camera is mine. Obviously I am at Overlook. I keep my bots at Lakeport. I am on the fence whether or not to bring the fishing boat up this weekend. I was in the water and fishing April 1st last year so I am really chomping at the bit to get up there and get a line wet.
Do yuo think Paugus will break up by Saturday?

Don't be discouraged
 

Parts of the lake may look socked in, but do not be discouraged. Take a look at these videos of ice out in the middle of Alton Bay... my favorite is the next to the last one.

http://www.winnipesaukeecam.com/videos.php

Thanks to the WinnipesaukeeCam owner.

IG
:D

Alton Bay Ice
 

Still some ice in Alton Bay but very porous. This is a shot from Loon Cove looking north:

http://C:\Documents and Settings\Own...p\looncove.jpg

Today's view from Bear
 

Open water is almost over to Mark Island.

Was the definition the same?
 

So do we know what the definition for ice out was back in the 1800's?

Hey Dan...I will update what it looks like tomorrow.

I was down that way yesterday and it looked like the exit from Irwins was blocked by a huge chunk of ice. Paugus still had a lot of ice on it from what I could see.

Yesterday, Thursday, April 11, most all of the ice disappeared from the area between FL-3, Gov Isl, Timber Isl, Mark Isl & Bear Isl. On Wednesday, it was all a pretty solid, big gray slushy mess, and yesterday it was about 90% open water, save for the shorelines along Mark & Timber Islands.

It is now time to replace all those popped & disappeared aluminum rivets on my antique aluminum dock with about 100 1 1/4" x #10 stainless pan head, sheet metal screws..........game-on........and, oh yeah.....to power-wash the old mess because that never got done either!:rolleye2:

What I could have for a nice new dock if my great big stinky property tax was not paying the pensions for all the "retired" town, school & county former employees so's they can be driv'n around in gas-guzzl'n, late-model pickup trucks!:rolleye2:


In Lake Winnipesaukee, olde aluminum docks from the 1950's never rust, they just loose their rivets and go to pieces!

So, when did aluminum first show up on the local scene? Could be it had something to do with World War II and Grumman airplanes?

You are correct, pictures from yesterday show Cattle Landing to Bear open and heading south towards Mark a lot of grey ice.

Today the ice flows are moving, it looks like open water over towards Mark and Mink Islands.

Lake Pics
 

We came up to Gilford last night around 7:00 P.M. and all the areas you see in the pics below were completely free of ice. With the wind changing direction this morning this ice has blown in from the Southeast.

These pics were taken from my deck. Kind of a dreary and foggy day out there today so the pics are a little dark.

The first pic is Welch Island, the second the broads with Welch on the far left.

Dan

Almost out
 

Attempt to get to Broads by a friend. Western tip of Rattlesnake Island in Pic. I hope it uploads. Water full of shards. Will Try again Sat/Sun

Yesterday was quite a day! In the morning we saw a pair of loons and two mergansers swimming together in our cove in West Alton. Then in the afternoon I thought I was hallucinating, but, no, there was a bowrider with two fishermen! Two firsts of the season! Summer is coming!

The north end of Paugus Bay from Langley Cove to the channel is wide open. I can't speak for the west side but the ice has receeded about 100 yards off the docks along the whole east side. There are two large masses of black ice around Big and Little Islands. Once you go south of Little Island the ice turns to chunks of floating ice that ends just before open water behind T-Bones.
There's another log jam of floating ice behind Irwins. Lakeport is clear.

Dan, if you are launching from Lakeport you will have a lot of trouble getting through behind Irwins. Once through there you could easily navigate to your dock. My worry would be the mass of ice 100 yards off your dock that is breaking up. There is a large piece of ice that has floated into your dock area as I type.

I'm lucky to be able to fish from the wide open area near Christmas Island. The ice has receded far enough to get to some areas of deep water and drop offs. I'll be floating around this weekend. Hoping to get my first pre-spawn bass.

The Broads is going out
 

Here is the broads a few minutes ago.... it is going fast!!

From his FaceBook page a few hours ago.

Emerson Aviation · 511 like this
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=509642725738201&id=131847 876851023"><abbr title="Friday, April 12, 2013 at 8:07am" data-utime="1365768475" class="timestamp livetimestamp">2 hours ago</abbr> ·

Thumbs UP if you think ICE OUT will be next week

Not Looking Good
 

My guess is with today's weather, there won't be a whole lot of improvement on the south end of the bay today. I don't keep my boats at Overlook (too rough!). I dock them at Lakeport, so I still may bring up the fishing boat and at least get it on the dock.
Thank you for the update. "Eyes on" is always better than trying to look around the corner through a camera.
Good luck fishing!
Dan

Last few Snake Eyes images
 

the ice is really on the move out there... Woo Hoo!! The top left image is the latest.

so I'm guessing all that ice is blowing north toward center harbor yet none of the cams seem to show where the ice sheets are gathering.

I haven't seen ice moving quickly out of the west alton cam either....are those sheets being protected by the shoreline or are they moving also?

Does anyone know if West alton marina is open (not iced it)?

Wind today
 

The wind says ENE yet Snake Eyes shows ESE movement as I have been watching it all day. It appears that the ice behind Rattlesnake on the West Alton shore has not moved much at all. Go to Echo Shore web site (echoshorescam.com) and there is a daily time lapse view.

The broads is pretty open now... but was really socked in an hour or so ago. It would be nicer if it was 70 degrees and a nice NW wind... but we get what we get...

Happy Ice Melting!
IG

Hi Mike;

I can't answer all your questions but I can tell you that last night and most of the day today the wind has been blowing in a north-westerly direction. I watched a lot of ice move from the rattlesnake area across the broads towards Governors.

As I look out over the broads right now from Locke's island all the way as far as I can see and at least to diamond island the lake is ice free. I haven't seen any moving ice in a couple hours now. I do not believe there are any more "ice sheets" in the broads or around Welch, whatever was there has either melted or been blown into slush.

Glendale docks are wide open and Smith cove was slightly locked in with slush two hours ago. I would assume it's all clear now. Fay's has started dropping boats in the water as of yesterday and put mine in so I am hoping to get a line wet sometime this weekend.

I do not know about West Alton but I may take a ride in that direction a little later on and will stop by and check for you.

Hope this helps;

Dan

Alton Bay update
 

Open water in lower bay up to Sandy Point. Lots of sheets of ice in the rest of bay. Winds are calm so not much movement. Took picture at scenic view but didn't come out good. I thought I could see some open water past Moose Island but no closer.

Just got back from Gilford. There was a bit of broken ice tucked in behind Lockes, but other than that it was clear all the way down to Diamond and Rattlesnake.

I was going to launch today but chickened out. It was nasty out! Sleet and freezing rain. The plows were out clearing the roads. Sunday it is!

Ames Farm had a lot of debris packed in as everything blew into the bay.

Heading down Woodlands road and 11D there was still a fair amount on the move. Alton bay was looking pretty good, the following picture was taken from Loon Cove looking towards Little Mark, as well as 2 pictures from Lincoln Park.

Looking to get out tomorrow. Is the thought that the launch near Fays will be open tomorrow?

Near Fay's or at Fay's? Glendale is fine now. I think Fay's will be as well. There was a bit blown in today but that should dissipate fast.

Either is fine. I was told that Meredith is iced in again, so Ill probably head in that direction. Thanks for the info.

I don't think it is very smart to put any boat in until the ice is gone. You'd be surprised how it can blow around and how destructive it can be. I actually say what looked to be a thin piece of ice blow into my neighbor's dock and smash it. There is a lot of power in that ice when the wind blows it. I guess if you just go in the open parts and take the boat out when you are done for the day, it would be ok. But I would never go where there are still ice sheets. Please be careful!!

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/04/13/5ymydusy.jpg
Meredith is I sent again it looks. I drove by Center Harbor hand it is wide open. By the looks of it the ice did a toll on the docks in Meredith.
Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/04/13/uqumu4y6.jpg
From the weirs
Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

This is depressing! It's snowing hard in New Durham, ice is REFORMING on the lake, and the winds promised for today, that we hoped would break up some of the ice, have never materialized.

Come on Spring... please?

Yes its a day trip. Boat comes out after we are done. Safety first

Good launch day
 

http://i44.tinypic.com/1499wms.gif SplendidSplinter9, I just noticed that you are fairly new to posting on the forum and glad you have joined us. Have fun and enjoy the Winni Forum while making many new friends.

Best of luck with your endeavor to launch and have some fun on the lake.:)

http://i54.tinypic.com/2e56yqf.gif

Thanks RLW. Looking forward to it.

Oh good, Splendid. I am glad you are taking the boat out. Be careful!

Let The Good Times Roll!!
 

Woke up this morning to see three fishing boats trolling the broads! From what I can see off my deck, the lake is ice free. Whatever ice / slush I saw yesterday is gone. That is not to say areas I can't see do not have some ice so use common sense if you decide to go out.

Heading to the island in a little bit to open up the camp, what a great birthday present for me!! :D

Be safe!

Dan